GREEN: Galaxy see an exodus

Galaxy fans' reaction to Monday's news that leading scorer Edson Buddle is leaving for a second-tier German club, and oft-absent midfielder David Beckham still is dickering over the terms of his temporary tenure at England's Tottenham, said much about each player's perceived value to the club.

Indeed, Monday was a busy day for Galaxy news with Cobi Jones announcing he was leaving the club where he spent 12 years as a player and the last three as an assistant coach for a post with the newly emergent New York Cosmos.

A regular commenter on the blog I write for this newspaper summed up the prevailing view of the flurry of activity with the succinct comment, "Sad about Cobi leaving, angry about Buddle leaving, annoyed with the other guy."

Jones' departure from the only MLS club to have employed him severs one of the last links with the Galaxy's inaugural season. But it is understandable he sees his new job as associate director of soccer for the Cosmos as an opportunity to progress from under his own considerable shadow at the Galaxy. And there appeared little opportunity for managerial advancement here anyway.

Buddle's desire to cash in on the best season of his MLS career - he finished last season as club MVP and top scorer with a career-high 17 goals - is a similarly valid, if not somewhat alarming, move from the Galaxy's perspective.

Valid because who is going to begrudge a loyal 10-year servant of MLS like Buddle, who last year made all of $188,000, the chance of a big payday? Even if it is at a struggling German second-division outfit like FC Ingolstadt.

Buddle, who turns 30 in May, reportedly will make double what MLS offered for a new deal. That's an indication of just how big the divide is between MLS and even modest European teams, especially a desperate one seeking to avoid relegation to Germany's third division.

He leaves without burning any bridges and saying all the right things.

"While I have decided to leave the Galaxy, I do so with fond memories of my four years with the club," Buddle said in a statement. "I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Los Angeles and will miss my teammates, coaches, staff and everyone who works for the club as they helped make me the player that I am today. I also want to thank all of the great Galaxy fans who have supported me ever since I arrived at the club and I am hopeful that one day I will be able to return to the Galaxy and help lead them to an MLS Cup championship."

Nice guy, that Buddle. Which is more you can say about head coach Bruce Arena, who declined to even release a statement Monday, let alone consent to a brief telephone interview while he scouts at the MLS Combine in Florida ahead of this week's draft, and address how he plans to fill the void of losing the Galaxy's only pure scoring threat.

Alarmingly there are few other options.

Veteran Jovan Kirovski quite likely is entering the final season of his career and never was much of a consistent scorer anyway. Lightweight Mike Magee has proved consistently ineffective. And promising young striker Tristan Bowen followed forward Alan Gordon to Chivas USA.

That leaves Landon Donovan, who performs better in midfield than fending off the close attention of defenders up front, and re-entry draft pickup Juan Pablo Angel. Negotiations continue with the former Red Bulls striker who scored only four fewer goals than Buddle last season, but Angel is 35 years old and it's obvious even if he does sign the Galaxy needs another starter up front.

Which brings us to "the other guy," who has shown he is far more adept at selling shirts than doing anything of note on the field.

Beckham has played almost as many games for AC Milan and England as he has with the Galaxy since his 2007 signing and is entering the final year of his MLS contract.

The Galaxy averaged only a few hundred fans more last season than they did in the season before Beckham arrived and the prospect of him getting seriously injured (again) while playing a handful of EPL games rightly horrifies the club's brass. He might not do much on the field, but the Galaxy won't want to alienate any more of their season ticket holders.

Whether Beckham merely trains with Tottenham as he is scheduled to start doing today or actually gets on the field for an EPL game or two remained unclear Monday. But it's obvious most Galaxy fans couldn't care less.

Buddle is a different proposition entirely. He, and his goals, represent a gaping loss.

But let's indulge in a little wishful thinking.

If Buddle can't save his new employers from the drop, they'll need to cut their payroll quickly. Buddle could be back by June, his bank account a little fatter but his desire undiminished.